Durbin, Duckworth Introduce Bill To Scrap Trump's Deportation Order

By Stephen Gossett in News on Feb 16, 2017 10:15PM

Dick Durbin / Getty Images / Photo: Alex Wong

U.S. senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) co-sponsored a bill on Thursday along with 20 other senators that seeks to revoke President Donald Trump's executive order on immigration enforcement and deportations, along with another component of Trump's order meant to withhold federal dollars for sanctuary cities.

The bill seeks to nullify Trump's executive action on Interior Enforcement, which gives Department of Homeland Security personnel broad parameters for enforcement priorities. For instance, "removable aliens"—people who have been charged, but not yet convicted, with a criminal offense—or people who have been determined to have “abused” public-benefits programs are designated as priorities for removal under the order.

The Senators said that the executive order targets a vast majority of undocumented people in the United States.

“Breaking up families and depriving cities of billions of dollars in critical federal funding doesn’t make our country safer - it dishonors our heritage as a nation of immigrants,” Durbin said in a press release. “It’s time for Congress to stand up and make clear that we will not be intimidated by the President’s bullying. This legislation would end the Administration’s mass deportation scheme and begin to lay the groundwork for a smarter, fairer immigration approach.”

Channeling one of the frequently cited reasons for the importance of sanctuary cities, Duckworth noted the damage from a public-safety perspective that anti-immigrant actions arguably portend.

“Ordering local officials to needlessly tear families apart is unacceptable—and it compromises public safety in communities across Illinois by fostering mistrust and suspicion between local law enforcement and the communities they serve and protect," Duckworth said in a statement.

"I stand with the people of Cicero, of Evanston, of Urbana and of Chicago against these sorts of divisive actions in favor of the inclusive America I know we can be," she added.

The proposed legislation comes on the heels of a recent one-week period in which more than 600 people in at least 11 states were arrested. Trump heralded a "crackdown on illegal criminals" on Sunday, but Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the raids were routine. Nearly 50 people were arrested in Chicago in last week's sweep. A couple of high profile incidents, in Arizona and Texas, drew particularly strong criticism.

The bill was introduced on the same day that thousands of protesters nationwide—including Chicago—staged "A Day Without Immigrant" actions to spotlight the significant contributions of immigrants and protest Trump's anti-immigration executive actions and rhetoric. Numerous restaurants and businesses in Chicago either closed in support or allowed employees excused absences for the strike.

Other co-sponsors of the bill are Senators Cortez Masto (D-NV), Mazie Horono (D-HI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Christopher Coons (D-DE), Al Franken (D-MN), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Ed Markey (D-MA), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Patty Murray (D-WA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Ron Wyden (D-OR).